Pair charged after RCMP vehicle stolen, crashes with 3 other police vehicles

A man and a woman from Alberta were arrested Tuesday after Nova Scotia RCMP say they managed to steal a police vehicle and were only stopped after being pushed off Highway 104 by three other police vehicles.

The crash happened between exits 18A and 19 just before noon AT. There were no injuries to the suspects or to the officers, RCMP said in a news release, but traffic was temporarily reduced to one lane in both directions.

Police said the events that led up to the crash began on Sunday.

At that time, Colchester District RCMP were conducting a checkpoint in Lower Truro, N.S. A pickup truck was checked by police and when an officer began asking for details, the driver drove off. It's unclear how many people were in the vehicle.

Police said the licence plate on the truck was stolen, so they went after it for a short time, but eventually called off the pursuit.

Stolen property

The next day, a member of Antigonish District RCMP was checking addresses related to the suspects in the Purlbrook area.

A pickup truck was spotted near a home, but the suspects weren't there. Police found stolen property inside the home. They learned the suspects left the home and were at a neighbouring property.

More stolen property was found at the neighbouring property, police said.

They seized the stolen property and the pickup truck. Police were told the suspects were still in the area, but they weren't found.

On Tuesday, RCMP found the suspects in the Purlbrook area.

Suspects escaped from back of vehicle

The pair were handcuffed and placed in the back of an unmarked RCMP vehicle, but they managed to escape and drove away in the vehicle.

More officers were called for backup. The stolen police vehicle was spotted on Highway 104 in Pictou County. Officers followed it and it eventually crossed the median into oncoming traffic, RCMP said.

RCMP said the responding officers "pushed the suspect vehicle into the median with their vehicles, due to the high risk to public safety."

The suspects were then taken into custody and taken to the Antigonish detachment.

A 22-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man are both scheduled to appear in Antigonish provincial court on Wednesday.